The Brisbane Pickleball Club organises games and tournaments throughout Greater Brisbane. Get on board and give the fastest growing sport in the world a try!
The Court
The Basics
- Pickleball can be played as singles or doubles, most commonly as doubles.
- Each point begins with an underarm serve
- The serve is performed diagonally beginning at the right-hand service square.
- The serve must clear the non-volley-zone
- The serve must bounce before being hit by the receiver
- The return of serve must also bounce before being hit
- The serving position alternates with each serve when a point is won
- Volleys can only be performed outside of the Non-volley zone
- Volleys can only be made after the 2 Bounce Rule has been followed
The Serving Process
At the start of each new game, only one player in the 1st serving team has the opportunity to serve and score points until a fault occurs..
Thereafter both members of each team will serve and fault before the ball is turned over to the opposing team. When a team wins the serve, the player in the right-hand court will always start play.
- Server 1 serves until a point is lost
- Server 2 then repeats this process
The first server is the person standing at the right hand service square.
- One attempt per service.
- The server alternates their position after every serve when a point is won.
- The server continues to serve until they lose a point while serving.
- The second server then serves, alternating position until they lose a point on their serve
- The serve then goes to the opposition.
Faults
A fault is any action that stops play due to a rule violation.
A fault by the receiving team results in the servers earning a point
A fault by the serving team results in the server’s loss of service and/ or side out.
A fault is committed when the ball:
- touches any part of the non-volley zone (including the line) or is hit out of bounds during the serve
- does not clear the net
- is volleyed from the non-volley zone
- is volleyed before a bounce has occurred on each side
- is hit out of bounds
- strikes a player or a permanent object before bouncing on the court
OR when:
- the player, their clothing or paddle make contact with the net during play
- the player, their clothing or paddle make contact with the NVZ during a volley
Scoring
- A team shall score a point only when serving.
- The server calls the score.
- A player who is serving shall continue to do so until a fault is made by his/her team.
- The game is played to 11 points, however a team must win by 2 points.
- When
playing doubles:
- Each player on a team shall keep serving until their team makes a fault, then the serve moves to the opposing team – this is called a Side Out.
- At the start of each new game, the 1st serving team is allowed only one fault (one person serves).
Find a complete guide to the rules of Pickleball at: IFP Official Rules – USAPA Pickleball
